Continental Drift Evidence

When did Pangaea begin to break up?

• About 200 million years ago

• About 175 million years ago

• About 150 million years ago

• About 100 million years ago

Fossil Evidence Importance

• Indicates that dinosaurs roamed the Earth millions of years ago.

• Shows that continents were once joined and have since drifted apart.

• Proves that life existed on other planets.

• Demonstrates the evolution of species over time.

Glossopteris plant and Climate

• Found in regions that are now warm, indicating past climate similarities.

• Found in regions that are now cold, indicating past climate differences.

• Found only in tropical regions, suggesting a consistent warm climate.

• Found in desert regions, indicating a dry climate in the past.

Puzzle Pieces Evidence

• Continents fit together like puzzle pieces, indicating they were once connected.

• Continents are stationary and do not move over time.

• The Earth's surface is completely flat and does not change.

• Continents are made of different materials and cannot fit together.

Movement of Earth's plates

• Plates are pushed by convection currents in Earth's mantle.

• Plates move due to gravitational pull from the sun.

• Plates shift because of the Earth's rotation.

• Plates are moved by tidal forces from the moon.

South America and Africa

• These continents fit together at their continental shelves, supporting the theory of continental drift.

• These continents are located in the Northern Hemisphere.

• These continents have the same climate and vegetation.

• These continents are the largest in the world.

What helped to confirm the Plate Tectonics theory and the theory of Continental Drift?

• Ocean floor mapping from the 1960s by Marie Tharp and Bruce Heezen

• The discovery of fossils in Antarctica

• The invention of the seismograph

• The theory of evolution by natural selection

Age of glacial deposits

• Formed 300 million years ago.

• Formed 150 million years ago.

• Formed 500 million years ago.

• Formed 200 million years ago.

Scale of continental drift in both time and spatial terms.

• Continental drift occurs over thousands of years and involves small-scale movements of Earth's continents.

• Continental drift occurs over millions of years and involves large-scale movements of Earth's continents.

• Continental drift occurs over a few decades and involves minor shifts of Earth's continents.

• Continental drift occurs over centuries and involves the gradual sinking of Earth's continents.

Which North American mountain range is older: the Appalachians or the Rockies?

• the Rockies

• the Sierra Nevada

• the Cascades

• the Appalachians